ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1880 First Year 2026 Last Year 1954 Peak Year #2 Peak Rank 743K Total Count 147 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Deborah What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Deborah is a feminine given name derived from דבורה D'vorah, a Hebrew word meaning "bee". Deborah was a prophetess in the Old Testament Book of Judges. In the United States, the name was most popular from 1950 to 1970, when it was among the 20 most popular names for girls. It was the 25th most common name for women in the United States in the 1990 census. It has since fallen in popularity. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Deborah](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Deborah.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) 📖 ## The Story of Deborah Deborah first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1880, with 12 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1954, when 54,675 Deborahs were born — ranking #3 that year. As of 2026, Deborah ranks #887 for baby girls with 305 births, gradually falling (-6%). In total, more than 743K Deborahs have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1880s through the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data ⭐ ## Notable people named Deborah A small selection from Wikipedia. Tap "Read more" below to see the full list on Wikipedia. * ●All pages with titles beginning with Debora * ●All pages with titles beginning with Devora * ●All pages with titles beginning with Dvora Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) 🎶 ## Names that sound like Deborah Phonetically similar names — useful when Deborah is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * [Debra](/debra) * [Debora](/debora) * Dobra * Dobre * Debris * [Debrah](/debrah) * Dubrow * Dubray * Dibri * [Dera](/dera) * [Darragh](/darragh) * Dobro Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Deborah What does the name Deborah mean? Deborah is a feminine given name derived from דבורה D'vorah, a Hebrew word meaning "bee". Deborah was a prophetess in the Old Testament Book of Judges. In the United States, the name was most popular from 1950 to 1970, when it was among the 20 most popular names for girls. It was the 25th most common name for women in the United States in the 1990 census. It has since fallen in popularity. How popular is Deborah in 2026? In 2026, Deborah ranks #887 among girls' names in the U.S., with 305 babies given the name that year. When was Deborah most popular? Deborah reached its peak popularity in 1954, ranking #2 that year with 54,675 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Deborah most popular? Deborah has historically been most popular in Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Deborah. Is Deborah a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Deborah is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name. What names go well with Deborah? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Deborah include Anna, Helen, Susan. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👧AnnaPeak #2](/anna)[👧HelenPeak #2](/helen)[👧SusanPeak #2](/susan)[👧AmandaPeak #2](/amanda)[👧HannahPeak #2](/hannah)[👧AmyPeak #2](/amy)[👧BarbaraPeak #2](/barbara)[👧BettyPeak #2](/betty) ## About the name Deborah Deborah is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 743K births in the dataset. Deborah's peak popularity came in 1954 when it ranked #2\. Use the chart and map above to compare Deborah's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1954 → ](/year/1954) * [ Names of the 1950s → ](/decade/1950s) * [ Names starting with "D" → ](/letter/d) * [ Browse all girl names → ](/names/girls) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.